For first time, Connecticut voters can register at the last minute

Local registrars are expecting only a modest influx of last-minute, unregistered voters on Nov. 5, the first time Election Day voter registration will be available during Connecticut’s municipal elections.

“It’s a municipal election, and I’m not worried about Eastern (Connecticut State University) kids rolling out of bed and saying ‘Geez, I need to vote,’ ” Windham Democratic Registrar Paulann “Bunny” Lescoe said. “This is a good practice. Next year, with the governor’s election, there might be a little more.”

Lescoe said she’s appreciative the state did not require the registration site to be an actual polling place. Windham will have five additional workers to staff the Town Council meeting room to handle last-minute registrations.

“That was a good thing the state did,” Lescoe said. “Every town can set it up in a way that matches their needs in a way that meets their capabilities and structures. For the first year, we want to be prepared and see what it’s like.”

She said she’s expecting approximately 50 people to register on Election Day.

The state Legislature last year approved a bill permitting Election Day voter registration, a measure Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law shortly after. State Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said the law was introduced as an effort to increase voter participation in the state.

“There are several other states who have this type of registration,” he said. “And they’ve seen significant increases in voter participation, between an 8 and 12 percent jump. And the states that have passed this type of legislation are a real mix of Democratic and Republican states. Anytime there’s an opportunity to make more people eligible to vote is helpful.”

Under the law, voters who register on Election Day must show up at a designated municipal site, such as Town Hall, with proof of residency and identification, and swear under oath they have not yet voted. The registrars will then check a state database to confirm the voter’s eligibility and to ensure no one is already registered in another town.

Av Harris, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said since municipal elections attract much fewer voters than presidential elections — about 30 percent of registered voters typically cast ballots in a local election— the number of people showing up to register on Election Day should be minimal this year.

“This is being done not to accommodate the vast majority of voters who registered on time,” he said. “It’s done to accommodate those that forgot or maybe recently moved.”

Dianne Slopak, Norwich’s Republican registrar, said officials aren’t expecting many people to show up for same-day registration, though two additional workers will be stationed outside City Hall for the duration of the Nov. 5 vote.

Page 2 of 2 - “It’s a municipal election, and turnout is usually pretty low for them,” Slopak said.

Colchester also plans to have two people accepting same-day registrations on Election Day at the town clerk’s office in Town Hall. Democratic Registrar of Voters Dot Mrowka said she also doesn’t expect an overwhelming turnout of unregistered voters.

“We might see more in a presidential election year,” she said. “Usually, we have 10 or 12 people who came to vote and can’t. They say they thought they were registered.”

Ballots from same-day registrants will be treated like absentee ballots, but will be counted after polls close at 8 p.m., Mrowka said.

Janice Thurlow, Killingly’s Democratic registrar, said voters wishing to register on Election Day will be seen inside the Town Hall registrars of voters office, where an extra staff member will be available to handle any overflow.

“I don’t expect a lot of people to come in — there hasn’t been much advertising about this,” Thurlow said. “This will be different, but it’ll be more interesting during the presidential election.”